Ask Again
by LoveandLearn
Summary: Here's how I would have liked to see 3.11 end. Mark realizes that he is in love with Addison and he does want her. So he asks again even if it's not right after she told him to.
1. Chapter 1

Mark had jut spent two whole days describing to Addison the life she saw herself having. The life that she lived the opposite of. And she would be lying if she said she hadn't fallen for his every word. Despite what she thought, she still had feelings for him. After hearing all this thoughts about what could be it was hard to keep those feelings at bay like had learned to do. And now here they were, in bed and there he was telling her how amazing it would be yet again. But Addison could not help but wonder if he was serious or if this he was playing with her emotions.

She sat up, clutching the sheets to her bare chest. His eyes didn't look away from hers. "If there wasn't a baby would still wanna move down here, join the practice...be with me? Because you keep asking and you paint a pretty picture. And I'm just lonely enough and I'm just scared enough and I'm just freaked out enough that if you ask me again...I might say yes." a smile hid the panic that was building inside of her. She went on with her speech, telling him that she needed him to be sure. That he couldn't be in love with someone else and settle for her because she was agree to raise his grandson. Then she said the words that changed everything. "But if you're serious and you want me...than ask me again."

Mark couldn't take his eyes off of her, as much as he wanted to look away. She had a small smile on her lips, her eyes were full of fear and hope. Tears where already making there way in response for the unannounced answer. They would either be tears of joy or tears of pain, neither was sure yet. The room grew awkwardly silent. "I'm so sorry, Red." he responded hoarsely.

Addison looked away from him, blinking away the tears. She looked back with a nod and fake smile to show him that she was fine. "Yeah." she whispered, falling back on the mattress and staring up at the ceiling. "Me too." her voice was barely heard because she didn't want it to crack.

After a few seconds of lying there she wrapped the sheet around her body and got out of bed. "Where are you going?" he asked when her first step wasn't toward the bathroom.

"Sleep on the couch." she answered.

"No, Addison, this is your house, this is your bed. Stay here, I'll go sleep on the couch." he offered, now feeling horrible for not lying to her and asking her what she wanted to hear.

"No. It's okay. You can stay in here, I prefer couch. I hate this room." she replied. That room reminded her of everything she didn't have. It was the perfect master bedroom to match the perfect house. It had a perfect view of the ocean. Except in a perfect world she would be living there with a family, her family. A husband and their children. Instead she was living there alone, no husband, no children. And here was Mark...offering her that dream only to tell her that she had no romantic significance in that picture.

"Addison-" he tried to stop her but she obviously had her mind set.

"And just so you know, Mark. I think about it everyday. And I even have day every once in a while where I regret it." she said before walking out the door.

Mark didn't move. He didn't get out of bed to go after her. Why would he? He just told her that he had no feelings for her, he knew she didn't expect it from him. So he sank down into the bed, trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep. Except the problem was that he couldn't. He kept seeing her face. The tears glistening in her eyes as she tried to fight them away, the small genuine small that symbolized the little hope she had that he really was after her and not just some dream. Her face was imprinted in his mind. And he kept seeing the secondary transition. The small smile turning into a fake one to hide her pain.

After hours of lying there and seeing the imagine over and over in his mind he finally got up and put on a t-shirt and his boxers. Mark went down the stairs and saw her on the couch, the sheets enclosing her body to keep her warm on the what was considered to be a coldest night in LA. He sat on the coffee table and reached out of her, stroking her cheek with his finger. Her eyes fluttered open and as soon as she saw him she turned her back to him.

"Addison, please." he begged. "Just talk to me. That's one thing you and I were never good at. We were only work well physically, we could never communicate, we could never get along. I want to be able to talk to you, I want you to be able to talk to me. Please. Let's try it out."

She turned over, facing him with the realization that he was right.

"I can't sleep alone." he admitted. He always had someone next to him, in recent times it had been Lexie but before that it was some different every week.

"Neither could I. But trust me, you get used to it. And it gets to the point where you get too used it and you can't sleep with anyone beside you." she answered.

"The truth is, I can't sleep because you're on my mind. I can't think about anything else. I keep seeing your face, and your pain is hurting me more than you'll guess. And it's strange because... I've never felt this way. I'd tell Lexie off all the time and I would be able to look at her pained face and not care. But you...I can't get it out of my mind. I don't want to hurt you."

"Then leave." she suggested.

"It's not that easy. I've been thinking about this for four hours." he replied. "Tell me what you think about everyday and I'll tell you what I thought in the last four hours."

"No."

"We agreed to talk." Mark reminded her. "Please...trust me just a little. I promise I'm here for you no matter what it is."

"The abortion. I think about the abortion. And the fact that I can't have kids anymore. That was my last chance at having family and I ruined it. Derek moved on, you moved on. He's got a kid on the way. You've got a kid and a grandchild on the way. You're both in love with a Grey and I'm alone. No kid, no one to love, no one to love me. You all moved on and I'm still here."

"You can't have kids anymore?" Mark asked in shock. He wasn't sure why he didn't know that, he wasn't sure how long she'd known that. But now he understood her pain. She had always wanted the fairytale family and she couldn't have it. He offered to give it to her and told her she wouldn't be the princess of the fairytale, just the step-mother. She'd have a role but she's as someone to take over the maternal duties.

"No." she answered. "I can't. I lost my chance for that. And I'm over it. Some things are just meant to be, ya' know? I would have made a terrible mother anyway. So...it's kinda of a good that in a way. I won't raise a child to be as screwed up as I am."

"You wouldn't be a terrible mother. You are amazing with kids. Sloan even likes you, she hates everyone she's met so far but she likes you. She's terrified of hospitals and doctors...surgery and all that. And she wasn't afaid of you. She told me that there was something about you that made her want to trust you. She said that she wished she could have a mother like you. And trust me...my daughter is very particular about the people she likes. She hates Lexie."

"What are you doing, Mark?" Addison asked, still lying on the couch wrapped in the thin sheet.

"I'm trying to tell you I was wrong." he answered. "There is reason I can't sleep knowing you're hurt. There is a reason why my kid hates everyone but loves you, it's a Sloan gene to love Addison Montgomery. I've slept with...a lot of woman without a single thought on my mind. But every time you and I get together all I think about is pleasing you, seeing you smile afterward, telling you how perfect you are. There is a reason for that, not every can make me think about all that during sex. You've got to be really special for me to think about you during sex...especially with other people."

"Don't do this."

"A couple times I couldn't get...aroused by Lexie and I would think about you and that one time we go stuck at Starbucks during a snow storm...and did it in the bathroom. Remember that?"

That day was hard to forget. It was the day she got pregnant, but she didn't expect him to know that. She's never even told him how far along she was. She found out, told him, caught him cheating and aborted the pregnancy without a word then she took off with the intention of never looking back, all in one week. "Yeah." she whispered. "I do remember that."

"I was attracted to the 'Grey girl', not in love with her. And if there wasn't a baby I would still want to be with you, I don't know when I would realize it if there was no baby but you would eventually because you are somehow the only woman I'm capable of loving. This _is_ about you. Baby or no baby I do want to move here, join the practice and most of all be with you. So, I'm asking you again. And I'm hoping you still might say yes." he paused, watching as that exact same tiny smile took over her lips and she slowly sat up. "I want to be with you and I was curious to know if you would wanna be with me?"

She sat there in silence for a few seconds, the moment resembling the one in the bedroom except now they had opposite role. Her face was straight now, just as his had been and now he was the one waiting for an answer with anticipation. "Ask me again." she requested. That seemed to be her phrase of the night. She needed to really hear it, make sure it was real before she could agree to it. It was way she made Derek repeat his proposal three times before she answered.

"Okay." Mark exhaled, letting some of the anxiousness out of his system. He knew what she was doing. He remembered that she had done the same thing to Derek. "Will you be my family? Will you let me love you? Will you help me raise our family? Will you let me make your fairytale come true?"

She smiled brightly, seeming to excited to talk. It was a transformation like no other. One minute she's lying there in misery debating suicide and the next she's jumped up onto his lap, his arms holding her waist to keep her steady and she's smiling a smile brighter than the sun could ever shine. Her eyes had a twinkle more radiant than a any star in the sky. "Yes." she finally answered. "Yes, yes and yes!"

"I'm sorry for having to put you through everything I've put you through to realize exactly what you mean to me." he pecked her lips softly. "And I want you to stop thinking about it. It doesn't matter anymore. You didn't lose anything, you have me."

Her excitement boiled down when she came to another thought. "But Mark, think about this... you want a family, you want kids. You want to experience becoming a father to a newborn and I can't give you that."

"You are my family and I want to experience holding you in my arms every night." he answered. "I have a daughter, who is giving me her son... she's giving us her son to raise as our own. She's giving me the newborn to father. If you are willing to adopt him with me that is."

"Of course I want to." she answered.

"But know I need you to tell me this is what you want. That you're not taking on children because I'm forcing you. This really is your dream?"

"It really is." she smiled. "Move in with me?" she asked with a smile.

"I don't know." Mark raised his brow with a grin. "Ask me again, I just might say yes." he replied, imitating her words. He slipped his arm under her knees and kept the other around her waist as he picked her up and started up the stairs toward the bedroom. What was now _their _bedroom. "Wanna reenact what we did in your office?"

"I don't know. Ask me again and I just might say yes." she pushed him down onto his back and rolled on top of him, trapping his bottom lip between hers.

"I can't ask you if you're tongue is in my mouth." he mumbled.

Addison pulled away and placed her hand over his mouth. "How about we stop asking one another things?"

Mark shrugged. "How about we just stop asking each other to ask again?"

* * *

I hated how things ended in the crossover. For a full 40 something minutes I thought that was it...that Mark was going to move to LA for her and they would be together forever in love. And they killed it and I swear I actually cried. I thought he was gonna say "Just kidding." after he told her he didn't want to be with her for her. So...this is how I think it should have gone.

Let me know your thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I didnt know how to fit this in the story but Sloan moved back to New York to ber with her mom.

Before the birth of Christopher Riley Sloan, Mark had never held a baby. He had never felt the love so pure and unconditional. It wasn't an easy feeling to get over, he felt it every time he looked into his son's eyes. He refused to let anyone else take care of him. Mark Sloan who had never even seen a diaper was the one to tend to every diaper change. Mark Sloan only held bottles that contained alcohol in them, now he held a bottle of formula steadily in the baby's mouth.

He looked up from the baby when the door to his office opened and Addison stepped inside, letting the door close behind her as she approached him and looked down at the baby in his arms. "How's he doing?" she asked, watching as he put his hand over Mark's and grasped his finger tightly.

"He's good. He got up from his nap, I changed his diaper and now I'm feeding him." Mark answered. "What happen at the hospital? What consult did Charlotte need?"

"Nothing too hard. Just c-section at 29 weeks, then I had to make sure the baby would be able to survive."

"Honey, I can assure you that you are the only one on the face of this earth that would call that an easy task. To everyone else I'd say that's considered a miracle."

"You're not too bad yourself. I seem to recall an article about a face transplant. I think people would be a little more impressed with that."

"You wanna know what's impressive? The fact that Christopher's diaper weighed more than him." Mark exclaimed. "He doesn't even eat anything and he shit enough for a fucking elephant!"

"You weighed it?" Addison asked with a disgusted face. "Most people would dispose of massive quantities of shit right away."

"I didn't weigh it! Do I look that bored with my life?" he answered. "I'm just assuming because I felt like I was lifting weights on my way to the trash...It's not even breast milk, it's power and water. How much shit could powder and water result to?"

"Can we please stop discussing fecal matter?" she asked, smiling as he removed the bottle from the baby's mouth. She took her from him, and held him against his chest to burp him, her hand gently patting his back.

"You have no idea who gorgous you look right at this very second." Mark said, getting up to kiss her. She was glowing, literally radiating with happiness. Just as his lips got closer to hersthey baby coughed something up. Mark drew back look at the vomit on her shoulder in utter shock. "Ew."

"Still think I look gorgous?" she asked sarcastically, handing the baby off to him then staring at her shoulder in disgust. "Chanel, Mark... I paid seventeen hundred dollars of this jacket." she whined as she took it off.

"Yes, I do still think you're gorgous. What's hotter than a woman with baby spit up on her shoulder?" He replied. "Don't worry, I'll take it to a dry cleaner and it'll be fine. And I'm exhausted, can we please go home?" he begged.

Addison nodded, "Glad you asked."

"I can't wait to see your face!" he answered.

She raised her brow, skeptically. He grabbed his jacket from the hook on the wall and gave it to her to put on. His Armani sweater would keep him warm enough but her Dolce and Gabana dress wouldn't. She slipped her arms into the jacket and took the baby from him. He slipped his hand around her waist and led her toward the car.

* * *

Mark took Christopher upstairs to change him, while Addison poured two flutes half full of champaige and took it outside. She sat on a lounge chair, facing the water. A few minutes later Mark came back down, their son dressed in a warm pair of blue footsie pajamas. He handed her off to his mother and took one of the glasses from her. He kept a watchful eye over his son to make sure he didn't take the object in his hand to his mouth.

"So why did we need champagne instead of wine?" she asked.

"I don't know, I more in the mood for this." he answered. "Do you mind? If you want wine..."

"No." she interrupted. "It's fine...It's Don Parrion, Mark. I'm not complaining." she assured, looking down at the 6 month old baby sitting on her lap with something hidden in his tiny palm. Mark watched her opening his hand to retrieve a ring. She looked up in shock, unsure of what was going on.

"I asked for your son for your hand in marriage. He seemed very enthusiastic about the idea. He helped me choose the ring and all." he explained, as he got down on one knee and placed took her hand. "I wish he could talk because he'd come up with a better proposal speach than I would. I love you, I don't know how to show you. I don't know how to tell you exactly how much I love you. We've always been meant to be together since the second we laid eyes on one another. Will you marry me?"

She sat there silently, looking down into his eyes while Christopher bounce bounced around in her arms. He settled quietly again, noticing their silence. He looked from his mother's eyes to his father's and sat quietly on her lap to try to understand what's going on.

"Ask again." Addison whispered with a small smile.

Mark laughed, squeezing her hand tighter. "Will you do me the honor of being my wife?" he rephrased only to see her smile grow. "Don't ask me to ask again because you're torturing me."

"Yes." she finally said, her voice anxious, happy and full of everything Addison used to be.

He got up and leaned into to kiss her lips before he fought his son for possession of the ring. He took Addison's hand and slipped it on her finger. She wrapped his arm around his neck, kissing him again.

"I love you." she whispered before letting him go.

Mark smiled, wiping away a single tear that he would insist wasn't there. Chris continued to stare at shiny rock on his mother's finger. "He is kinda in love with that ring by the way."

"I am too." she replied. "It's perfect."

"Chris chose it. The biggest, shiniest one in the store." Mark explained. "Well not the biggest but the clarity of this was the highest so it was the shiniest. There was one that was bigger but it wasn't flawless. And I needed you to have a ring as perfect as you are." he pecked her lips one last time before sitting down beside her.

Addison turned a little to face him, her son still on her lap. "What if I have a surprise for you too?" she asked.

"Would it involve you being naked?"

"No... well... not really but technically there was some nakedness involved at some point." she answered.

"I'm kind of not sure what that means. So... I need you to either tell me straigh out or give me a more straigh forward hint." Mark replied.

"Would you want to have another baby with me?" she asked.

He wasn't sure where this conversation was going. She couldn't have kids of her own. He didn't say anything, deciding to go along with her. There was no way anything could bring them down tonight. "Ask me again." he responded

"What would you say if I told you that I somehow managed to get pregnant?" she rephrased.

"I'd tell you to stop drinking that champagne." he answered.

"My is that sparkling apple something. I'm finally pregnant, I wouldn't ruin that by drinking." Addison assured.

"You're pregnant?" was the only thing he managed to say, she nodded in responce. "I've never been so proud to have had unprotected sex."

"Yes, quite the accomplishment that was. You managed to impregnante an infertile woman."

"What can I say? I'm magical." he laughed, kissing her loving on her lips. "I can't believe we finally have this... our own family."

"Ask me again, Mark." she pleaded.

"No, you might change your answer. Trust me, I asked twice, you said yes." he replied.

"No! Mark, please." Addie begged. "Ask again."

"Fine." he gave in, again getting down on his knee and holding onto her left hand. "Will you, Addison Adrienne Forbes Montgomery, marry me?"

"And make me ridiculously long name even longer by adding '-Sloan' to it?" she asked hopefully.

"If you ask me again I might consent to that." he answered jokingly.

"You ask me your question again and I'll ask you mine." Addison answered.

"No, Ad, we are gonna stop asking one another to ask again. That was the deal remember?" he replied. "If you doubt that I asked you, look at the ring... it's your proof. And in a few months you can look at you baby bump as proof than you can look at our family as proof. Okay?"

"Okay. No more asking to ask again. But that rule goes into effect right after you ask again."

* * *

A lot of reviewers wanted me to add a chapter with them and their baby. So I did... and I couldn't help myself so I had to give them a miracle pregnancy to suit their perfect life.

Thoughts?


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